Skin Design Tattoo Hawaii

Christina is awesome!! I cannot begin to describe how thankful I am to have chosen the right artist for my first ever tattoo.

I am extremely picky (and who wouldn’t! its permanent art on your body) when choosing the right person. So much so that I’ve spent countless hours looking up all these tattoo artists and their portfolios before deciding who to pick… Because not everyone that can tattoo has the right technical skills to do so. Textures/lines/shading/placement/ etc. Christina’s line work is clean as f… and her shading ability is impeccable. Those two factors are what initially caught my attention to Christina’s artwork. So I booked 3 full day sessions with her at the Golden State Tattoo Expo 2022 and drove 6 hours one way to get my tattoo done.

Fast forward to the expo, Christina worked tirelessly and in good faith to ensure that both parties were proud with the design itself, tattoo placement, and overall aesthetics. In this modern day and age, I’ve never seen anyone with a strong work ethic and determination like her to get it done. It was inspiring. And guess what? It all paid off. Her tattoo design won the “Best of Day” Award at the coveted 2022 Golden State Tattoo Expo and appeared on Hawaii news!! I was stoked! Because that winning ink is now on my arm! This tattoo, my first tattoo, will forever be an unforgettable experience and it wouldn’t have happened without Christina and her dedication to the project. I am so happy with the outcome of the artwork. I will be coming back for more! I cannot recommend her enough to those that are contemplating on getting a tattoo. She will work with you and consult with you to make sure that your artwork is flawless and something to be proud of.

Also shoutout and thanks to the team over at Skin Design Tattoo Studio for making the booking process and checking out process smooth from start to finish.

Had a super great experience getting my first tattoo from Zeus. He's a super great and nice guy, and made me feel comfortable. The view from the shop is great and the environment is clean and modern. All of the skin design workers are really nice and make you feel at home. I will definitely come back here in the future. Zeus did a great job doing a greek angle on my forearm. He is light-handed and walks you through the whole process. The initial tattoo idea that I had in my head came out even better in the end. Couldn't ask for anything more.Thanks guys.

Setting up the appointment was not an issue and pretty standard. No complaints there. I have no complaints regarding the actual session either. In fact everyone was very warm and welcoming.

To preface, I had a solid black M within a black rectangle roughly 3” x 2.5” done on my wrist and that is a liberal estimate. I’m sure most would agree that is neither a complex piece nor difficult location. This review is being posted 2 days after receiving the tattoo, however the flaws were noticed practically right after I took the wrap off or about 2 hours after the session. So the flaws noticed are no way at all attached to healing process, as it really hadn’t begun yet.

My issue lies with the final product and the treatment afterwards. I informed them ahead of time that I’m from out of state, and gave them my availability, so coming back for any additional sessions (and given the piece, none should be necessary) would be out of the question.

With regards to the tattoo, I was willing to overlook the curvy lines on a rectangle, as I’m mainly bothered by the uneven ink deposits on a solid piece, which is easily rectifiable. You can quite literally see the gaps between the needles, which could have been promptly corrected by going over them again. I was willing to overlook those curvy lines and not even bother writing this review, if this shop would have gone ever so slightly out their way to let me go to their shop local me and spend 30 minutes having the the missing ink filled in.

Rather than have me drive 30 minutes to their shop local to me, I was informed that I’d have to schedule another session with the original artist. Which would require another trip to Hawaii and all the costs that entails for a piece that only required what I imagine is their shop minimum or close to it.

In summary, I asked for a rectangle and a solid M. In exchange for $200 plus tip, I was given a distorting mirror with a translucent M and told to spend thousands on travel instead of $5 on gas to go another one of their locations to correct an issue that was entirely fabricated by them. It’s genuinely a shame that I’ve had to write this, and potentially blacklist myself as I truly did enjoy every second of my time in their shop🤙🏽

Back in 2019, after 3 frankly bad to average tattoo experiences, I took a chance on a young apprentice following her dreams. I never looked back. Christina Choi is hands-down one of - if not THE sweetest, detail-oriented, talented artists I've had the pleasure of meeting. I get the most compliments on Christina's work for good reason, her tats are beautiful! She's an award-winning artist who excels at realism, is extraordinarily detailed, and genuinely cares about the person behind the tattoo (don't be a jerk). I highly HIGHLY recommend Christina for your next tattoo!

The studio itself is very clean, the staff is friendly and welcoming, and they offer snacks/drinks for purchase which is nice. I've also had the pleasure of briefly meeting the owner, Robert Pho. The community he's built and continues to support is incredible, making Skin Design Tattoo Honolulu a great choice of studio and definitely my go-to.

I got my tattoo with Gerard and he was awesome. Skin Design was also super great to set up my apt with. I’d highly recommend Skin Design and Gerard.

Been going here for about 2 years at this point and I haven't had a single bad experience. The artists are great company and the work environment is very chill and laid back. I look forward to my appointments and always leave in a better mood than I came in with. Huge shout-out to Christina for working with me over the years and I can't wait to go back. :)

I’ve waited a long time to write this out of embarrassment. I spent 20k on a leg sleeve I had nothing to do with. Nearly every idea I came up with was shot down, I was left out of the creative process and was told what would be put on my body. There was zero consultation of brainstorming session despite me putting half down before receiving said tattoo. I recognize my people pleasing tendencies absolutely play a role as I ought to have stood my ground after being dismissed over and over as now I’m left with a tattoo I’m considering spending another 20 grand to have removed as every time I see it I feel overwhelmed with regret and now wear long pants everyday. You can still see my old tattoo through the attempted cover up.

Reena and her crew took excellent care of me from day one finding her on Instagram, to booking, to getting my memorial tattoo for my dad who passed recently. I knew where I wanted my tattoo and sent a few ideas, but didn’t have an exact plan. Reena heard me 100% and delivered the most beautiful tiny salmon I could have imagined. She worked out of a room with other femme artists and the vibe was positivity and supportive the whole time. I will definitely travel to find Reena in the future! Mahalo for taking great care of me and delivering a tattoo more perfect than I imagined. ❤️

Great service and amazing work! Set up is extremely nice and all the workers are very welcoming. Got tattooed by Christina and she definitely killed it👌

While Lynn is the artist I've used so far, I have interacted with most of the people that work at the shop (I've gotten almost 30 hours of work so far). Everyone that works at Skin Design is super nice and friendly. The shop is on the 34th floor, so the view is insane awesome, which matters when sitting still for hours to get a tattoo. Not only is the view unbelievable, the quality speaks for itself and my art gets compliments regularly. My color retention is great and there is almost no scarring, both important when considering a tattoo artist in my opinion. I posted several photos of my leg sleeve throughout the process so far. Have a look, it's obvious how skilled the artists here are in their craft. Skin Design will always be my first choice for tattoos on Oahu.